Pinoy Weekly vehemently condemns the baseless and false terrorism financing accusation against Deo Montesclaros, one of our staffers.

In a subpoena dated January 10, 2025 from the Cagayan Provincial Prosecutor, the Criminal Investigation and Group of the Philippine National Police accuses Montesclaros and several activists of having allegedly gathered supplies for armed rebels in 2018.

Montesclaros has been a correspondent of Northern Dispatch since 2017. From 2021 onwards, he has also been a reliable multimedia journalist for Pinoy Weekly, contributing long form pieces and photographs. He is also currently a contributing photographer for Germany-based photo agencies IMAGO Images and Alto Press.

The complaint levelled against Montesclaros reeks of the government’s relentless red-tagging spree. Last year, the Quezon City Trial Court already ruled against government-backed red-taggers and the Supreme Court declared that the practice endangers life, liberty and safety. Despite this, the military continues to attack journalists like Montesclaros with its baseless accusations in a bid to stifle free speech.

With its seemingly boundless resources, the government is trying to gag free speech whenever anything remotely critical is said or published. From non-government organization to people’s organizations and journalists, terror financing charges is the latest red-tagging trend intended to paralyze individuals and organizations.

We demand the scrapping of the accusation and that the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. heed the example set by our judiciary and enforce an end to red-tagging.

Hands off Deo Montesclaros! Defend press freedom! Stop the attacks!